


i am damaged (but you’re not beyond repair)

by jasperrz



Series: Big Brother Zib AU [1]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cute Kids, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Time Travel, Zib is extremely protective of his siblings, Zib is going to bite zim and his siblings can’t convince him not to, just a bunch of chapters sort of similar to one shots in a somewhat chronological order, like when dib and gaz are around their canon ages later, not really a big story, of a sort, zim doesn’t show up til much later though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:08:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29029962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jasperrz/pseuds/jasperrz
Summary: An older Zib finds his way out of the Zimvoid, and into a universe where Dib and Gaz are younger kids.Zib never had the opportunity to have a decent childhood, so he gives them what he never had the chance to have.
Relationships: Dib & Gaz (Invader Zim), Dib & Zib | Zim Number 1, Gaz & Zib | Zim Number 1
Series: Big Brother Zib AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2129703
Comments: 8
Kudos: 40





	1. a prologue, of sorts

Dib. That was a name he didn’t think he was worthy of anymore, after everything he’d done. He still despised the name, so calling himself Zib seemed to be a fitting enough punishment. ~~It’s not like anyone else was there to call him it, anyway.~~

At that point, Zib was waiting for everything around him to crumble or just for him to drop dead, preferably the latter. That would be difficult, though, seeing as Irkens had long lifespans. He knew some traits of the species carried over, so he wouldn’t be surprised if that had, too. ~~He wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of killing himself, either.~~

And so began the unbearably long game of waiting for death, or perhaps something else, though he couldn’t figure out what. Someone to take pity on him and rescue him? Yeah right, that wouldn’t happen, Zib wasn’t worthy of that by a long shot.  ~~ He didn’t think that he was. ~~

Sometimes Zib heard him. The him being his Zim, of course. He could never quite understand what the ghost was saying, but he knew that it was him.  It was hard to not recognize his voice, after all. 

<>  
  


Zib wasn’t sure how long he’d been in the void anymore. He knew it had been a few years, he’d gotten older and even a bit taller. Good to know that the Pak didn’t keep him in his 12 year old body like he may have thought. If he had to guess, he’d say that he was 16.

By now, he was tired of waiting for death, and was trying to make some sort of one use portal, to bring him somewhere that wasn’t the Zimvoid. Anywhere would be better than there, as far as Zib was concerned. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to do it, but he certainly hoped so.

And when Zib actually _succeeded_ , he felt the most joy he’d felt in years. He stepped through the portal, and after he did, it disappeared, and he left the Zimvoid behind.

It looked like his Earth, his town, but he knew it wasn’t. Not exactly. ...he wondered if the house was still around, and… if the professor was too.  ~~ He wouldn’t call him a father. The professor had lost that right.  ~~

So it seemed he’d have to go looking.

  
  


(...the universe seemed to feel like mocking him, or something. when he found “his” home, he was greeted by a much younger version of  ~~ himself ~~ Dib. When Dib mistook Zib for an older brother, he nearly cried.)


	2. trying their best, both of them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> zib’s sad, dib tries to comfort him (it works)

The professor hadn’t bat an eye or questioned anything when Dib had come inside the house with Zib. He knew that he wouldn’t, the man wasn’t known for his memory, even in his own universe. Probably thought that Zib was a clone he made much earlier than Dib and Gaz, and ended up looking odd. 

...of course, as soon as the professor figured that Zib would be able to care for the two, he left. ...it’s not like he expected anything better from him anyways. Zib didn’t hold him nearly as highly as he used to, by now he would have fallen far from his place on the pedestal inside of the hybrid’s mind. Perhaps even farther than that...

And that left Zib with the job of taking care of the kids. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it yet. 

In Zib’s short time in this universe, about 4 days, he’d learned a few things. Dib was six years old, and Gaz was five. It was summer, and, much to his relief, there was no Zim. ~~Yet~~.

He’d been doing his best to care for them, using what minimal knowledge on cooking and such he had. (The Internet still exists, of course. Thank god for it…) He still wasn’t very good at it, but he was doing what he could.

Zib thought that they deserved a better life than he had, after all.

<>

Zib, however, still wasn’t exactly stable, which is something of a side effect when you’ve been alone in a void with a dead Irken’s Pak attached to your head, he guesses. He never ~~not yet anyways~~ lashed out at his new… siblings, he supposed he cared too much about them. ...that was a funny thing, Zib didn’t think he was quite capable of such things anymore.

That didn’t mean he didn’t still think of the things he’d done, of course.

Zib tried not to be sad around them, he didn’t want them to deal with that. He succeeded, for the most part. Until one night, that is.

  
<>  
  


Zib didn’t sleep often, more like moped in the room he claimed as his all night. He couldn’t help but cry when he was sure that Dib and Gaz were asleep, assuming they wouldn’t hear. 

On the night where the hybrid’s sadness had hit an all time high, his younger brother ~~he still wasn’t used to saying that about another version of himself~~ came into his room. Zib immediately tried to wipe his tears and calm himself down, for his sake.

“Big brother? Why’re you crying?” Dib asked, eyes wide. He hadn’t seen him like that before, so it was natural to be worried, even as a six year old.

“...I was having bad memories, it’s nothing to worry about.” Zib tried to reassure him, but his brother wasn’t having it. 

“Yes too! I don’t want you to be sad, so don’t be sad, okay??” Dib didn’t have a way to quite describe it properly, but Zib knew that he meant well.

“If you say so, kiddo. ...Hey, isn’t it past your bedtime already?”

“If you’re sad, I’m sleeping in here with you so you feel better!”

Zib didn’t object.


End file.
